A Wish Fulfilled
by JennieRyan
Summary: At long last, Crutchie and Jennie have become parents.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: I'm so sorry for the long wait with this story, to be perfectly honest I forgot I still had to publish it on here.**

_November 1906_

"Charlie? Could you come here a minute please?"

Crutchie looked up from the newspaper he had been reading at the sound of his name being called. "Yeah, just a minute!" he called back, slowly getting to his feet.

When Crutchie entered his and Jennie's bedroom, Jennie was standing facing away from him staring at the floor. He frowned. "Jennie?"

Jennie slowly turned to face Crutchie, her eyes wide. "I, um, well…" she moved slightly, and Crutchie caught sight of the small puddle of liquid on the floor.

"Jennie… are you…?"

Jennie nodded. "Yes, Charlie. I'm in labor."

"Shit."

_**-Break-**_

A few hours later, Crutchie and Jack were sitting at the kitchen table. The apartment was silent except for the occasional moan or thud from Crutchie and Jennie's bedroom.

"Ya don't hafta stay the whole time, Jack," Crutchie said after they had sat in tense silence for a while. "This'll probably take a while, an' I don't want ya to be away from Eddie for too long."

Jack waved Crutchie's concern away. "Katherine's mother is over today, so she's got plenty of help. 'Sides, you was there for me when Kath was goin' through all this. Least I can do is return the favor."

Crutchie smiled thinly. "Thanks, Jack." He sighed and looked down at his hands. "I just wish this didn't take so long."

Jack opened his mouth to respond, but a knock at the door interrupted him. He glanced at Crutchie questioningly.

"Must be Jennie' parents," Crutchie said. "I sent 'em a message a little while ago 'bout all this." He quickly got up, made his way to the door, and opened it.

"Hello, Charlie," Jennie's mother greeted as she bustled into the apartment, smiling at him kindly though her eyes were worried. "Where is Jennie?"

"In the bedroom." Crutchie gestured to the door at the end of the hallway just off the kitchen. "The midwife's with her. I think she was askin' for you a little while ago."

That was all it took for Jennie's mother to hurry off to comfort and help her daughter, not even pausing to take her coat or hat off. Crutchie watched her go, then turned to Jennie's father. "Mr. Ryan."

Jennie's father, usually a serious man, smiled at Crutchie and shook his hand firmly. "Congratulations, son."

Crutchie tried to smile back. "Thank you, sir."

Jennie's younger sister Margaret (who had grown from a somewhat annoying child into a rather serious young woman in the past three years) spoke up next. "Why don't you sit down, Charlie? I'll make some coffee."

Crutchie nodded, feeling a little overwhelmed at all of the sudden activity. "Okay." He sat back down at the table rather heavily, Jack and Jennie's father sitting next to and across from him while Margaret filled the kettle with water and set it on the stove.

"Won't be long now," Jack said, trying to sound optimistic. "In a couple hours, you'll have a sweet little baby in your arms."

_**-Break-**_

Ten hours later, and Crutchie and Jennie's baby had yet to make an appearance. Jennie's mother had exited the room a few times to fetch hot water and towels, and each time she told them it wouldn't be much longer. Crutchie had believed her the first few times, but now that it was past Midnight he had almost lost all hope of meeting his child anytime soon.

Suddenly, Jennie started screaming. Crutchie sat straight up in his chair, looking at Jack frantically. Jennie's father clasped his hands together tightly and began to pray, while Jennie's sister hurried into the bedroom to check on things.

"Jack," Crutchie murmured. "Jack, what's wrong?"

"Nothin's wrong, Crutch. This is all normal," Jack said reassuringly. "All it means is that your baby'll be here real soon."

Crutchie didn't respond, all he could think about was Jennie as her cries grew louder and louder. Then, all of a sudden, they stopped. There were a few agonizing seconds of silence, and then the sound of a baby wailing pierced the air. Margaret hurried back into the kitchen.

"Congratulations, Charlie. You have a daughter."

_**-Break-**_

When Crutchie was at last given permission to enter the bedroom, Jennie was sitting up in bed with a small bundle in her arms. Her hair hung damp and limp around her face and she was pale with dark circles under her eyes, but she smiled dazzlingly at Crutchie. "Come meet our daughter."

Crutchie slowly made his way over to their bed and perched on the edge of it, setting his crutch against the wall. Jennie carefully handed the baby over to him, and when he took her in his arms he felt as though his heart would explode with joy.

"We're parents, Charlie," Jennie said.

"I can't believe this is real," Crutchie replied, not taking his eyes off of his child. "She's so perfect."

"She looks like you," Jennie remarked as they both studied their daughter's face. "She has your nose and mouth, and my hair."

"She does," Crutchie agreed. He looked over at Jennie and smiled. "I love you so much, Jennie."

"I love you too." Jennie leaned forward and kissed Crutchie on the cheek. "You're going to be an amazing father."

"An' you'se already an amazing mother," Crutchie said, looking back down at the baby. He was quiet for a minute, then he spoke again. "What're we gonna call her?"

"Well, I did have one idea," Jennie responded. "We could call her Faith."

Crutchie grinned. "It's perfect. But what about her middle name?"

"Maybe… Emily? For your mother?"

Crutchie looked over at Jennie in surprise. "Really? You'd do that? Ya don't wanna name her after your Ma?"

Jennie shook her head. "I don't mind naming her after your mother. She'll know my mother, but not yours. I think this is the perfect way to remember her."

Crutchie looked down at Faith, trying to blink away the tears which suddenly threatened to spill from his eyes. "Faith Emily Morris. Perfect."

**A/N: Katherine and Jack's first child is named Edward John Kelly, and he was born about 8 months earlier in March of 1906.**

**There is still another chapter of this story to go, in which Faith is introduced to all of the boys and Katherine and Eddie make an appearance. Please review this story, and tell me what you think of it so far!**


	2. Chapter 2

Crutchie and Jennie's first week as parents was interesting, to say the least.

Faith was a relatively easy baby, but like all babies, she still needed a great deal of care. Add to that the constant stream of family and friends who wanted to see her, and Crutchie and Jennie were soon absolutely exhausted. But despite all this, they were the happiest they'd ever been. They had Faith, who was absolutely perfect in every way, and they wouldn't trade that for anything.

**_-Break-_**

About a week and a half after Faith was born Jack, Katherine, and Eddie visited. Jack and Katherine had sent a bouquet of flowers a few days after the birth, but as Jack had explained to Crutchie as he prepared to go back home the morning following Faith's birth "We'se just gonna give ya some space, let you find your footing. I bet there's loads of folks who want to see that little angel, an' you'll be busy. 'Sides, Kath's just gettin' over a cold an' Faith don't need to be exposed to that."

As much as Crutchie admittedly missed his surrogate brother during that week (especially since Jack was already a somewhat experienced parent) he was indeed very busy. So busy, in fact, that he nearly forgot Jack and Katherine were going to visit until Jennie reminded him.

"You might want to change your shirt before Jack and Katherine come over. That one has spit-up on it."

"Oh. Yeah, that's right, Jack an' Katherine are visitin'. I, well. I better make myself more presentable."

"Yes, darling. I think that's a good idea. Although I don't think Jack and Katherine care too much about that kind of thing, in all honesty."

"That's definitely true."

**_-Break-_**

"Hello! Oh, it's so good to see both of you!" Jennie exclaimed from the parlor as Crutchie let Jack and Katherine in. Katherine was holding Eddie in her arms, but when she saw Jennie and Faith she handed him off to Jack and hurried over to greet them.

"How are ya, kid?" Jack asked Crutchie, shifting Eddie in his arms as he began to fuss slightly.

"Good, good. Faith don't do much besides eat, sleep, an' cry, but we always seem to be takin' care of her," Crutchie replied.

"Oh yeah. For the record, that never changes." Jack smiled at Eddie and bounced him slightly. "Right, Ed?"

Eddie squirmed more and babbled in response, so Jack carefully set him down on the floor and watched him begin to crawl over to where Katherine and Jennie were chatting.

"You'se a complete natural, Jack," Crutchie remarked as they slowly followed after Eddie, ensuring he didn't hurt himself. "I'll be happy if I can be half the pa you are."

"You'se already that, an' much more besides," Jack said, fixing Crutchie with a stern look. "So don't go gettin' any other ideas, okay?"

"Okay." Crutchie smiled and nodded. Then he turned back towards the scene in front of them. "Eddie seems to be havin' a good time." He gestured towards the eight-month-old, who was currently sitting on Katherine's lap with one of his hands in his mouth and the other pointing at Faith excitedly.

Jack chuckled, shaking his head fondly. "He's a funny kid, my Ed."

"Ya named him after your Pa, right?" Crutchie asked. "I think I remember you tellin' me that right after he was born."

Jack nodded. "Yeah. It was my idea, I just thought it would be a nice thing to do. 'Course, that made Katherine get all sentimental an' insist on making his middle name John, after me." Jack frowned slightly. "It's a little odd havin' a kid named after you, even if it ain't his first name."

"It's odd havin' a kid," Crutchie interjected. "But a good type of odd."

"Yeah," Jack agreed. He nodded towards Eddie and Faith again. "Think they'se gonna grow up to be best friends like us?"

"Maybe." A smile spread across Crutchie's face. "They certainly are gonna see a lot of each other. That'll either make 'em hate or love each other."

Jack laughed. "Love each other, huh?"

Crutchie turned red as he realized what he'd just said. "That… I wasn't… shut up, Kelly!"

Jack clapped Crutchie on the shoulder, his eyes twinkling. "I'm just kiddin', kid. Our kids'll grow up however they grow up, an' that don't matter all that much. All that does is that we love 'em just as they are."

"Yeah." Crutchie gazed at Faith, sleeping soundly in Jennie's lap. "That's all that matters. That we love 'em."

**A/N: Eddie is about 8 months old at this point in time. 8-month-old babies are typically capable of crawling and babbling (among other things such as understanding object permanence) and walking and saying their first words usually aren't that far off.**

**Next in this series is a Oneshot about Crutchie, Jennie, and Faith and after that there will be another multi-chapter story about them! Thank you to everyone who reviewed the last chapter, please let me know what you thought of this one.**


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